Enrolling in the Park Forest Day Nursery Preschool

Eligibility Requirements for Enrollment

Eligibility requirements for students attending the Park Forest Day Nursery Preschool are based on the Federal Government's guidelines for the free lunch program, in public schools, that serves children from low income families.  Click here to view current eligibility guidelines on the government's web site.

The parent may not be a current Penn State student.  The Park Forest Day Nursery Preschool program's mission is to serve local resident families—not University students who are assumed to be in a temporary poverty situation that will change upon graduation.  The local Headstart program does accept children from families of Penn State students.

Our school has three classrooms: one each for two year olds, three year olds, and four year olds.  The cutoff date for admission is based on the students age on August 31.  For example, a child must have turned two by August 31 to be in the two's class, three by August 31 for the three's, and four by August 31 to be in the fours.  This schedule guarantees that a four year old will graduate in May and enter State College Area School District kindergarten the following September as a five year old--meeting the August 31school district cutoff date for entry into kindergarten.

Registering for Enrollment

The school director, manages enrollment and registration for enrollment normally occurs in one of three ways.

1. Parents who learn from another parent (neighbor, friend, relative) can call the school office at (814) 231-8492 and speak with the school director.
2. Referrals from the State College Area School District's Outreach Specialist who is working with an elementary school age child learns that there are preschoolers in the household who would benefit from the program.
3. Referrals from local human service agencies who are working with families whose children would benefit from the program (e.g. Children and Youth Services, Youth Service Bureau, Central Intermediate Unit, Mental Health-Mental Retardation Base Service Unit, and early intervention agencies such as Strawberry Fields) . 

Click here to view our school's non-discrimination statement.